Tennancy Deposit - How Long To Notify Of Deductions?

[Some Guy]

We recently left a rental property after 7 years. The outgoing inventory report highlighted a few issues of cleanliness and worn carpets. We countered this with a lack of maintenance and poor quality decorating made cleaning to a better standard almost impossible. Previous decorating attempt had wood-chip paper going over the top of the skirting board. Light switches were painted and various cables were tacked to the skirting board and door frames.

It is now approaching 1 month since leaving and thus far we have not had any official response from the landlord, or agents advising us of any deductions. Is there a time limit for them to decide on and inform us of deductions, or can the waiting go on indefinitely? It would be nice to say "times up, please return everything".

If there is an official period of time, is this documented anywhere? FYI deposit was registered with TDS.

[superlightr]

within 10 working days after you ask for the deposit back in writing they should inform you if there will be any deductions they then have a reasonable period of time to negotiate those with you. if you say no don't agree full stop then it goes to arbitration.

what documents did they give to you at the start of the tenancy? important to know so that you can see if it was correctly protected.

Have a look on the TDS/dps website for the rules.

Did you have an inventory when you moved in?

Edited by superlightr on Saturday 9th September 21:55

Edited by superlightr on Saturday 9th September 21:56

[mjb1]

Worn carpets are just that: 'wear and tear', so not deposit deductible (unless they're claiming it's excessive wear, but they'd never make that stick after a 7 year let). How is the deposit protected, DPS or TDS?

[Fugazi]

Raise the issue through the TDS, you should have a repayment ID number that you use to log in. After so many years the worn carpets would fall under 'fair wear and tear'. Did you get a document stating the condition of the house when you signed the tenancy agreement, or take photographs before you moved in and after you left?

I've only just received the remaining half of my deposit after leaving a property in June, having lived there for four and a half years. I had to go through the dispute process after being informed that the landlord wanted £290 to repaint a bathroom and £80 to remove rubbish, despite the property being left in a better condition than when we moved in. Photographs were taken before and after, for example the bathroom paintwork was in a poor state and oven hadn't even been cleaned, we left it like new!.

Once the dispute started they officially claimed for repainting two rooms and said that I apparently owed a weeks rent, no mention of the rubbish though.... With no evidence to back it up and with me having bank statements and many, many photographs, they lost. They're also a fairly substantial outfit with a lot of properties and still they tried to argue over a few hundred pounds after having nearly £30k off me in rent. But this is the second time I've had dodgy landlords turn out to be chancers, so I just assume I'm going to have to deal with some money grabbing idiot in the future and protect myself as best I can.